Students are often really curious about my Chinese learning. They usually either over-estimate my abilities or grossly underestimate them (I have gotten exceptionally skilled at not flipping out whenever someone slowly intones “Ni Hao” in my direction). Way less frequent are exchanges like the following:
Student: Kathryn, why are you learning Chinese? It’s too hard.
Me: It’s not that hard, and anyway, I tried learning French when I first came to China, but no one understood me. So I had to study Chinese. Why do you study English?
Student: Globalization.
She nailed it.
BONUS! To paint a better picture of this particular student, here’s the cover of the book she wrote for book-making day:
Getting Schooled in China 